Thursday, October 08, 2015

Former Bruins tough guy Milan Lucic is now a member of the L.A. Kings. Last night, in his debut with the Kings, he was checked in the open ice by Logan Couture. The hit in question was hard, and legal. Instead of taking his medicine and playing on, he decided to go after Couture. Link to the video in question.

While I don't think Lucic should be given a match penalty for going after Couture. Lucic did come off as being a bit of a cry baby. Seriously, it wasn't a dirty check. I also predict that Lucic will not be given an additional discipline, nor does the hit warrant any. I have seen worse on-ice behavior go unpunished.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

I am not sure what Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette is attempting to accomplish. Seriously, Zedeno Chara is one of the toughest players in the NHL and talk about poking the bear. Then Paquette goes after Chara again at the end of the game.

Also, when did former UMD Bulldog J.T. Brown become a fourth line hack? s/t to Jack Edwards after Brown attacked Krejci for no apparent reason. Brown is very lucky that Milan Lucic was held up by one of his Lightning teammates.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is a great fighter and a pretty good hockey player. Lucic is also one of my favorite Boston Bruins, but I think it's time for him to sack up and get over it. There's going to be days when someone gets the best of you, that's life. This is one of these instances.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

This one-punch was the subject of much discussion on Twitter. Give credit where credit is due, Dalton Prout got lucky, and I expect that Milan Lucic will extract his pound of flesh the next time the two teams play. In my opinion, Lucic's gloves weren't off and Prout used this as an opportunity to get the upper hand on Lucic.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Three nights ago, Milan Lucic was penalized two minutes for boarding Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. This is the replay of the hit. You can see that Emelin turns at the last moment. I don't really agree with the call in question, but oh well.

One has to wonder if Lucic was trying to send a message.

Apparently, Lucic also made an obscene gesture to the Montreal fans and was fined $5,000.00. Yesterday, Lucic apologized for his behavior. What's troubling to me is that the league is more concerned about obscene behavior than dangerous hits. To me, that's a travesty.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

With the loss of tough guy Shawn Thornton, the Boston Bruins are going to focus more on team toughness.

Joe Haggerty , CSNNE.COM – “I believe [the team toughness] is already there, I do. We have a couple of candidates that played in Providence that surely could fit in if we need them. But I really think it’s already there, I do,” said Chiarelli. “You’re going to see Adam [McQuaid] back, whoever’s playing D, so we’ve got some tough guys there that can hold up their own. So I believe it’s already there.”

On any given night the Bruins will feature multiple players capable of dropping the gloves if the team needs an emotional spark, or if there’s an opponent taking liberties with members of the Black and Gold tribe. Clearly Milan Lucic would be the most intimidating name at the top of that list, but defensemen Kevan Miller and Adam McQuaid are no slouches in that category either.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

At the end of the game, Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic used the handshake line to say his piece to Montreal Canaidens Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin. According to Weise, Lucic threatened him. Traditionally, the handshake line is considered sacred ground and it a taboo to start something in the handshake line. Once the game is over, it's over, the handshake line is supposed to be devoid of extracurricular activities.

“You look at a guy like Shawn Thornton who has been around the league and he plays hard and he plays that role and he had good things to say to everybody,” Weise told the media. “He [lost] with class and Milan Lucic just couldn’t do that. Well I won’t get into what he said — it’s just poor, it’s a poor way to lose.”

Weise says Lucic threatened him in the handshake and said something similarly threatening to Emelin. Emotional series ends with tough words.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 15, 2014

Another game, another Lucic cup check. We got quit a history starting to develop here. Emelin isn't going to fight Lucic or anyone else. There's a reason for that, and Taylor Shire from the Bleacher Report tells us why.

During a 2009 playoff game, while playing with Kazan AK-Bars in the Kontinental Hockey League, Emelin got into a fight with Alexander Svitov, who rearranged Emelin’s face. Emelin was left face down, bleeding profusely on the ice after taking a couple solid punches to the face.

Emelin had a concussion, a broken nose and needed facial reconstruction. Now he has several metal plates under his left eye. So, that’s a good enough reason not to fight Malone. Why risk more injury to your already-injured face? There could be long-term effects.

Last night, at the 12:05 mark of the third period, Lucic again stuck his stick in Emelin's nether region. Like most of us watching, it was so subtle that we didn't see it. For the most part, the play went undetected, even by the television announcers. After the play in question, the two separated without incident and went their separate ways. After the whistle, Looch whispered sweet nothings in Emelin's ear. I am sure they weren't exchanging phone numbers.

I would say that Lucic is starting to develop a nasty reputation of having a way ward stick. This way ward stick, seems to keep connecting with his opponents' testicles. In my opinion, that's bush league, Lucic is better than that.

After reading the book "The Code" - one might say that Lucic has broken the hockey code by doing these types of bush league tactics. Let's not forget, that turnabout is also fair play. Someday, someone is going to catch him with a retaliation type hit. Lucic brought this on himself.

Lastly, I am a Boston Bruins fan, for that I make no apologies, but I must say that these incidents are starting to become a regular occurrence. This is disappointing. Again, Lucic is better than this, he doesn't need to resort to these types of dirty, cheap hits.

At what point does the NHL step in and sanction him a punishment that more teeth to it, it's not like he hasn't been warned. Before we go there, the Hab's aren't a bunch of saints and they don’t hold the moral high ground, either. Last night, Zdeno Chara was caught with a vicious slash by a Hab’s player as well.

Apparently, the Montreal Canadiens are unhappy with another cup checking incident involving Bruins forward Milan Lucic and Canadiens forward Alexei Emelin. (Click to read the link) No clue, if the National Hockey League is going to do anything about it. I guess they could fine him again.

Monday, May 05, 2014

#becauseitsthecup ... Even thought it's the playoffs, cross-checking your opponent in the head is still a penalty, right? It should be. This should be called, this is a dirty hit and should be a five-minute major in my opinion. Thoughts?

Let me clear, I am not a dove by any stretch of the imagination, and this is coming from a guy that has the nickname Goon, but this could be classified a deliberate attempt to injure your opponent. This is why the NHL players are suffering from concussions in high numbers.

Saturday, May 03, 2014

I thought it was over when the Montreal Canadiens pushed the lead to 3-1. Then a funny thing happened. The Bruins put it on the table and pushed back and scored four goals in eight minutes. The problem with the Bruins is they started responding to the Habs instead of just playing hockey.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

I love playoff hockey... ANY playoff hockey.... but I also think it's one of the worst hockey out there. Why? Well... mostly it is due to hypocrisy.

All throughout the regular season, teams play the game and commit penalties. Sometimes these infractions result in suspensions, fines, and so on. Ah, but then the playoffs begin and it's all changed!

The playoff rulebook has come into play!

This rule book is the most hypocritical, imo, rules entity in professional sports. I've watched playoff hockey this year in both the USHL and the NHL and they're both the same. It takes an act of God to get the refs to raise their arms. Why? What happens when the postseason begins that makes a call that is made ALL SEASON LONG no longer required? If the refs aren't enforcing the rulebook, why do we have 2 refs and 2 ARs on the ice? Why not just have 2 ARs just to call offsides, icing, and drop the puck on faceoffs and just rely upon the video replay judge and the goal judges to determine goals? There is no reason for refs if the rulebook is optional.

Yesterday, we saw two overt spears in Corey Perry and Milan Lucic. Neither resulted in penalties being called. Lucic's resulted in a wrist smacking $5,000 fine. Well, the message is clear. Your stars can spear guys and they'll only lose part of a game check! NO PENALTY!!! I'm too used to the NCAA rulebook that states that spearing is a 5 minute major and game ejection. It's legal in the NHL, I guess. It's also legal to slash a stick in two pieces if it results in a scoring opportunity (ala Anaheim's short handed goal by Cogliano).

I LOVE the game of hockey. I LOVE a good, clean, hardfought, physical game. But I'm also a big proponent of the rulebook. I believe truly that the rulebook is in place for essentially two main reasons: 1. Integrity of the game itself and 2. Player safety. If the rulebook isn't going to be enforced, then I hope the playoff teams have good insurance and travel policies because someone's going to leave on a stretcher and they'll need a body to fill the void ASAP.

In the NHL, IMO, cheap shots occur when enforcers are handcuffed due to situational concerns and/or the rulebook AND the officials either have lost control of the game or refuse to enforce the rulebook. Yes, I LOVE games like what we saw with Chicago vs. St. Louis. I LOVED last year's Finals between Boston and Chicago. But I LOATHE games where the sport is made even more dangerous than it has to be because the playoff rulebook is in effect.

I'm not sure where the money comes from to pay refs for NHL games. However, if the playoff rulebook is truly as optional as the rules have been applied thus far, help out the common man in the playoffs. Simply do not put any armbanded refs on the ice at all and save the money spent to pay them by passing the savings onto the playoff attendee. If this sounds ridiculous, then it's time to start using the rulebook again and saving the integrity and health of the players before someone gets seriously hurt.

And I haven't even begun about the USHL. USHL playoff rulebooks remind me a TON of the clutch and grab style of WCHA officiating back in the early 2000s... even down to the fact that, even when they DO call penalties, it will be a LOCK that neither team will have an advantage on the powerplay... even if they have to invent a penalty to make it equal (which I've witnessed personally).

Save the game. You don't have to call everything. You just have to call the same game as you do during the regular season.

By now, you’ve probably seen the chop to the groin region of Detroit
Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser by Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic … Almost
on cue, the Lucic haters have demanded a lengthy suspension of the Bruins forward.

Ah, but there’s a catch, while everyone was drawing and
quartering El Diablo Milan Lucic, the Ducks forward Corey Perry was also checking Jamie Benn’s
cup region as well. Where was the feigned outrage for that stick incident? Both plays are equally
objectionable, and if you suspend one player, you must suspend the other one, right? Here's a prediction, neither player will receive any games off. However, they will be given a stern warning and put on double secret probation. Frankly, that's playoff hockey.